Dragon Boat Festival Coming To Locust Point Saturday

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — It’s always quite a sight and it happens on the water in south Baltimore on Saturday.

Ron Matz reports, the annual Dragon Boat Challenge is right around the corner.

The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club train three times per week.

It’s not a bad way to start the day, and its membership is growing.

“By the end of the season we’ll have approximately 100 members,” according to Frank Gentile, co-chair of the club’s membership committee. “We welcome everybody, it’s a lot of fun. It’s an open club. Anyone, no matter their skill level, is welcome to join us and have some fun with us.”

The boats can hit speeds of six knots. It’s a full body cardio workout.

“When you’re out there you start to forget all the troubles in the world,” says festival director Ada Ma. “You go out there, you paddle, you exercise and you just let it all out on the water, it’s fantastic.”

The club hosts the annual challenge, which takes place at Under Armour global headquarters in Locust Point.

“When we started the club we also thought it would be fun to host a race here in Baltimore,” says club president John Pezzulla. “We thought the Under Armour campus was a great venue to do that. We invited teams from all over and we have a series of competitive races throughout the day.”

Teams come from Illinois, New York, North Carolina and everywhere in between.

“We lost one of founding club members earlier this year, Ray Talabis, so proceeds from this year’s race will go to a college scholarship fund for his daughter,” Pezzulla says.

The races run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and admission is free. Pezzulla says food trucks will be parked nearby, as well.